Charles Poland died protecting students from a gunman who boarded his Alabama school bus. His son Aaron Poland talks for the first time exclusively to AC360°.

Aaron says his dad was proud of the students on his bus. He often told stories about them at home and encouraged the kids as if they were his own.

Poland reacts to the news of the 5-year-old's rescue. He tells Anderson “The thing that got me the most was knowing that my dad’s last thought was final because Ethan was home with his mom so he was safe...My dad’s key job was to make sure every child was delivered safely to their parents”

Aaron tells Anderson a story about when his father helped feed a man begging for food on the side of the road, "He would rather make sure somebody else was taken care of do without to make sure somebody else was taken care of." He says Charles "didn't have a selfish bone in his body.”